Page 23 of Undeniable

He comes tearing in from the living room and scoops the little girl up into a big hug. For his age he seems surprisingly strong since he is able to lift her like up like that.

The woman laughs airily as she steps past me and into the foyer. “I am Ashlynn. We are friends of Gio.”

“Oh yeah. Alessandro has told me all about you guys,” I say with a genuine smile as I truly relax and usher the kids inside before I shut the door.

Alessandro takes Seraphina’s hand and pulls her into the living room to show her the toys he was playing with. I smile at them before I turn to see Ashlynn giving me an appraising look from head to toe with an interested smile on her face.

“Sorry,” she says when she realizes she is intently staring at me. “We have heard a lot about you too and you are way more gorgeous than I was picturing.”

“Oh, uh thanks?” I laugh nervously.

She rests her hand on my arm and laughs. “Sorry, that came out weird huh? I don’t hold my tongue very often. You will get used to me.”

I smile and nod. “Did you bring Seraphina over to play?”

“No. We are heading to the family fun center, we wanted to see if you guys wanted to come with. Well, more like Seraphina begged and begged for Alessandro to come until she cried crocodile tears.” Ashlynn rolls her eyes and shakes her head as she looks over at the kids with a loving smile. “I don’t know what I am going to do with those two. They seem to not be able to be apart for longer than a day or two before they go nuts.”

“Young love,” I tease.

She huffs out a laugh. “Don’t tell Luca that. He loves that they are friends, but no one will ever be good enough for his little princess.”

I smile. “Sounds like he is a good father.”

“He really is. So, what do you guys say? Want to go hang out in a huge building that smells like day old pizza and smelly feet?”

I laugh and shrug. “I don’t think that I can imagine a better way to spend the day.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, we are going to get along well.”

I get Alessandro dressed quickly and soon we all pile into Ashlynn’s SUV before two men take up the front seats like it is a totally normal thing to do. I am instantly on alert and throw a panicked look to Ashlynn, wondering who the hell these strange men are, but she just seems to pretend like they aren’t even there, just like the kids do.

My brows furrow as my tensed body slowly relaxes while we go down the road. Clearly, they are chauffeurs or bodyguards or something. Based on the sheer size and gruff demeanor, I would guess that they are definitely bodyguards. Why would Ashlynn need two bodyguards just to go to the fun center with a couple of kids? The whole thing is alarming, but I do my best to push the seriously crazy conclusions in my head to the side. None of them could be right.

Right?

When we get to the fun center, we all pile out and I notice that both of the men follow us around about 10 steps behind everywhere we go. Again, everyone seems to be acting like this is just another day and completely ordinary. It has me more than a little interested to do some digging and find out what Giovanni and apparently Luca, do for a living.

Ashlynn and I sit back on a bench after a little while to watch Alessandro teach Seraphina how to play ski ball. He is so good with her it is too precious.

“So,” Ashlynn says after a moment.

I turn to see that she is watching me patiently, a curious smile on her face. I furrow my brows. “What?”

“Is there something going on with you and Giovanni?”

“What?” I ask surprised. “What would make you think that?”

She cocks her head to the side, choosing to wait me out. I bite the inside of my cheek as I contemplate my answer. I could lie, it is probably the easier way to handle things. I don’t really want to, though.

“I don’t know, honestly. He is obviously sexy as sin, and he seems to have a soft side when he wants to. I don’t know what goes on in his head though. One moment he seems really into me and the next it is like all he wants to do is get as far away from me as possible.”

Ashlynn nods her head in understanding. “He is conflicted.”

“About what?”

Her head shifts back and forth like she is contemplating something.

“Has he told you about Isabelle?”

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